From the uselessness of the final
product to the dramatic environmental and social impacts of its excavation,
modern-day gold mining serves as an
absurd illustration of the dangers and
complexity of our global economy.

marinduque.jpg

Hovering at around $630 an ounce,
the price of gold is based both on its demand from the world market (80 percent of which is used for jewelry) and
its supply. The supply is both naturally
and artificially limited; naturally limited
by the 79 tons of waste that is extracted
for every ounce of gold, and artificially
limited by the amount of gold that is
kept in storage vaults by investors and
nations who back their economies by
holding gold reserves. It is estimated
that enough gold is stored in these reserves to meet the current gold demand
for 20 years.

The only thing more astonishing
than the 79 ton per ounce ratio is the
fact that this waste is largely toxic. A
portion of this waste is drenched with
cyanide to extract the microscopic flecks
of gold from the ore. The toxic waste,
or tailings, then sits in tailing ponds to
await its reuse. There have been over 30
recorded spills of this toxic substance
(in either its transport or storage) in the
last five years, resulting in massive fish
kills and drinking water contamination.
In some countries, they dump this cyanide-laced waste directly into the rivers
and oceans.

And the untreated ground up ore?
Well, this is likely toxic as well. Wherever you find gold, you also typically
find sulfides, such as pyrite (also known
as fool’s gold), and heavy metals. These
ground up sulfides need only to mix
with air and water to create sulfuric
acid, which creates acid mine drainage.
Not only is this acid water destructive
to local plant life and water systems, but
this acid also leaches out heavy metals
– such as mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, which in turn pollute the air and the
water. It has been estimated that metals
mining accounts for 96 percent of the
world’s arsenic emissions.

Mining companies often claim that
only a few environmentalists oppose
mining operations at the expense of
the economic development of the communities they purport to represent.
Meanwhile, the companies themselves
promise to bring jobs, build schools and
hospitals, and encourage investment
that will ultimately outweigh the damage to the environment.

The reality of mining, however, conflicts with this false dichotomy. Mining
often relies heavily on government subsidies for water and energy, the royalties
that mining companies pay are often
significantly less than other industries,
and the average life of a gold mine is
a mere 14 years. Additionally, countries
rich in gold reserves suffer from the
“resource curse” that ails most other extraction industries.

The “resource curse” is a term coined
to describe how resource rich countries
have statistically lower economic growth
rates than resource deprived ones. It
turns out that countries with great material wealth also have a high propensity
for high level government corruption
(hence the “investment incentives” and
light taxation). These large scale operations often negotiate the displacement
of peoples and destruction of livelihoods directly with the national governments, despite resistance from local
governments, such as is the case in the
Philippines, Peru, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Hence, you get situations like
in Peru, where a provincial mayor was
pegged with rubber bullets at an antimining demonstration, or in Indonesia
and Papua New Guinea where mine security has played a role in suppressing
independence movements. In Tanzania,
Village Chairmen served 30 month
prison sentences for allegedly “inciting
villagers to reoccupy their farmlands
and mine pits,” after a Canadian corporation took over an area that was at the
time being mined and farmed by some
30,000 to 250,000 people.

The infringement of local autonomy
is most pronounced when looking at
the numbers. According to estimates
by Oxfam, 50 percent of newly mined
gold will be from native lands. For many
indigenous people, who often rely on
their environment for food and necessities, mining threatens not only their
livelihood, but also their traditional way
of life. Their lands tend to be vulnerable
to encroachment because of their lack
of power within their country’s political system; their land and water rights
are often ignored while their resources
are exploited and their environments
destroyed.

This global exploitation is backed by
both private security and military might.
Many of the same mercenaries who are
now finding work in Iraq got their start
guarding mines and oil fields. These
private militaries operate with impunity in dealing with local conflicts that
often end in injuries and even deaths.
In some countries, mining corporations
will make direct payment to the police
or the country’s military to guard their
gold mine, leading to conflicts of interest when those same police repress protestors at anti-mining demonstrations,
as has happened in the Ancash region
of Peru.

In spite of the threat of repression,
people are wising up to the toxic legacy
of gold mining and these global operations are increasingly met with resis-
tance. All throughout Latin America,
communities with experience in mining are traveling to those considering
it, sharing their stories of environmental devastation, economic depression,
and struggle so that others can avoid a
similar path. Meanwhile, more attention is being focused from within the
countries of the mining corporations,
such as Canada, the US, the UK and
South Africa, to bring attention to the
human rights abuses for which they
are responsible. Through the strength
of the local organizing, coupled with
the support of international solidarity campaigns, some communities have
succeeded in chasing away the threat of
open-pit mining. However, many more
communities continue to feel the pressure of global capital encroaching on
their lands, alongside the promises of
economic development, the rhetoric of
“environmental stewardship,” and, that
failing, force and intimidation.

to add some much need color to this article, I also provided a couple of picures with some captions, describing the situations that I highlight with greater detail.

here they are, for those without the print addition of FL:

Less than one third of Indonesia's military budget comes from the national government. The rest of the money is raised independently from the military itself, through means such as prostitution, human trafficking, and of course... providing security for the extraction industry. It is estimated that in 2002 alone, New Orleans-based Freeport McMoran paid $5 million directly to the Indonesian military for securing their West Papuan mine, where they have been operating since 1967. Since before that time, there has been an indigenous struggle or independence for Indonesia, and Amnesty has estimated that 100,000 Papuans have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against West Papuans.

When Barrick Gold SUVs began to ply the dusty roads of La Rioja, a group of four women met in the town of Famatina in March 2006 and formed the "Self-Organized (Autoconvocados) Neighbors of Famatina for Life." Soon a series of smaller, inclusive groups sprang up in towns and villages around Mt. Famatina to educate their neighbors on the dangers of gold mining – gathering enough political clout that the local government introduced an anti-open pit mining referendum and brought the pro-mining governor to trial for corruption. Mistrustful of the political process to save the community from the threat of mining, the autoconvocados decided to blockade the mining road at Peñas Negras, some 9,300 feet up Famatina, forcing Barrick to suspend activities on March 14, 2007.

During the regional 48 hour strike in April 2007, thousands of demonstrators marched throughout the Ancash region. These strikes have been held for annually for years, and are usually met with (at times fatal) police repression, despite support from the local Ancash government. Here, mining companies are allowed to employ police to provide security for mines, creating an uncomfortable conflict of interest when police clash with protestors.